Trump’s Energy Policies Shutter New Jersey Clean Energy Project That Would Have Lowered Costs 

Washington, DC – In the latest casualty of Donald Trump’s war on clean energy, Heatmap News reported that an offshore wind project that was expected to bring 2.4 gigawatts of electricity to the grid is no longer moving forward. Leading Light Wind cited “changing regulatory requirements” for their decision to pull the plug on construction. The news comes a week after a Democratic victory in New Jersey, where Governor-elect Sherrill centered on lowering utility costs and directly attacked Trump’s clean energy cuts in her winning campaign.  

Donald Trump and Republicans have taken a sledgehammer to clean energy projects across the country while electricity demand skyrockets, jacking up energy costs for Americans. Far from delivering on his campaign promise to cut electricity prices in half, Trump’s own reckless energy policies are causing utility bills to soar, with household electricity prices up 11% under his watch. New Jersey has seen the highest increase in the country, with a 21% spike in electricity prices over the past year. 

Climate Power Communications Director Alex Glass issued the following statement: 

“New Jersey families have seen their utility bills climb higher and higher each month, and Trump and Republicans are to blame. Their war on clean energy is shuttering projects across the country and taking energy options off the grid, leaving hardworking Americans to pay the price. Trump and Republicans promised to lower costs, but in fact, life has gotten more expensive on their watch and last week, New Jersey voters held them accountable at the ballot box. We’re going to spend every day between now and November 3rd, 2026 making sure Republicans continue to pay the political price for their broken promises.”

Trump’s reckless energy policies are leaving a trail of shuttered projects across the country:

• Earlier this week, a solar firm in North Carolina laid off 78% of its workforce after filing for bankruptcy due to renewable energy policy changes under the Trump administration.  

• QCells, a solar manufacturing plant in Georgia, announced that it would be furloughing 1,000 workers and permanently laying off an additional 300.

• In just two months, six clean energy projects were closed in Michigan, including most recently, two electric vehicle battery plants that laid off 324 workers. 

• Last month, General Motors laid off 1,200 workers at its electric vehicle plant in Detroit, along with hundreds of additional permanent and temporary layoffs at battery plants in Ohio and Tennessee. 

• In October, Topsoe cited the repeal of clean energy tax credits as a reason for canceling 150 jobs and a $400 million investment in their Richmond, Virginia facility. 

• Earlier last month, Fox 2 Detroit reported that over 100 employees at Dana Incorporated, an electric vehicle battery component manufacturer in Auburn Hills, Michigan, had been laid off.

• General Motors canceled a $55 million factory that would have created 300 jobs, citing “decisions of the DOE”. 

• Fortescue blamed U.S. “policy settings” and the elimination of “critical tax credits” in Trump and Republicans’ budget bill for the cancellation of their $210 million Detroit EV battery factory. 

• Trump used the government shutdown as an opportunity to sow even more chaos and uncertainty for American workers by cancelling $8 billion in investments in states that did not vote for him. The Trump administration has put $24 billion for energy projects on the chopping block since May. 

• Trump’s federal energy policies contributed to battery startup, Natron Energy, shutting down and canceling its planned $1.4 billion factory in Eastern North Carolina, which would have created 1,000 jobs. 

• Blue Ridge Power blamed insurmountable “market headwinds” impacting the renewable energy industry for their decision to lay off 517 workers in North Carolina. 
• Trump planned to revoke federal permitting for a Maryland wind farm, which would have powered 718,000 homes and supported more than 1,300 jobs.